


You Can't Get Me Off Your Mind

by ashilrak



Series: All the Best Things in Life Come for Free (But Don't You Think That Applies to Me) [5]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: College Student Peter Parker, Established Relationship, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Peter Parker is of legal age, Sugar Daddy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:38:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24780193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashilrak/pseuds/ashilrak
Summary: Sam Wilson met Peter Parker for the first time while visiting the Tower.Natasha, curious about who Peter Parker was to gain Tony Stark's trust so quickly, decided to investigate.
Relationships: Peter Parker/Tony Stark
Series: All the Best Things in Life Come for Free (But Don't You Think That Applies to Me) [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1683325
Comments: 19
Kudos: 395





	You Can't Get Me Off Your Mind

Peter was in New York. More specifically, he was at Tony’s penthouse.

Peter had walked out of his last class on Friday to find a text from Tony telling him that a plane had been arranged to take him to New York for the weekend. 

Happy had greeted him at the airport, and that had been that.

May had texted him sometime on the flight.

**From: Aunt May**

I have you for Sunday, don’t let Stark distract you and make you forget

Peter had sighed. May still wasn’t sure how to feel about the whole dating Tony thing.

**To: Aunt May**

I won’t!!

**From: Aunt May**

See to it. 

**From: Aunt May**

I larb you

**To: Aunt May**

Ily2

Peter had half expected Tony to be waiting when the plane landed. He slid Tony’s sunglasses on as he stepped outside, and FRIDAY was quick to comfort.

“Boss says he’s sorry about not meeting you,” FRIDAY said. “He planned to, quote, “take advantage of the tinted windows you always make fun of me for,” unquote. He had to stay longer than planned at the compound and will be meeting you at the tower.”

Peter couldn’t have stopped his smile if he wanted to. He had always been terrible at controlling his expressions. One reason to be grateful for the mask, he guessed. The Black Widow had made a comment on his voice and body language being too expressive. He didn’t even want to  _ think _ about what she’d say about his face.

“Thanks, FRI.”

But now he was sitting in Tony’s lap in the penthouse, his face tucked against Tony’s neck, just breathing him in. 

It’s not like him and Tony had ever lived in each other’s pockets. It’s not like that was ever going to be an option, not with the lives they lived. But, still, to say Peter missed Tony sometimes was an understatement.

There was something to be said for feeling Tony’s warmth, for smelling the scent that was so uniquely Tony. Not Tony Stark. Tony. Tony Stark was expensive cologne, tailored suits, and fast cars. 

Tony was all that and more. Tony was the weird aftertaste from his green smoothies, oil, and smoke. Not cigar smoke, not smoke from a fire pit, but the smoke that came from lighting one too many things on fire. With gasoline and household chemicals. Almost battery acid-esque. Three days stuck in the lab with no human contact, let alone a decent night’s sleep and a shower. Even a shower couldn’t completely get rid of it. Peter loved it.

Peter had tried to explain it to MJ once, when she started asking him about his senses. He had mentioned how people smell and MJ hadn’t been able to let it go. It was Ned who asked how Tony smelled, fanboy tendencies still strong. 

MJ had wrinkled her nose and said, “huh, the dirty capitalist smell clings.”

Peter knew better than to argue that. Besides, she didn’t know she was getting her NYU tuition for her birthday. 

Tony’s arms tightened around his waist and warm lips pressed against his temple.

“I’ve missed you, baby,” Tony said.

Peter nodded. “I’ve missed you too.”

He snuggled closer, if possible. Peter’s hands crept under Tony’s t-shirt to press flat against Tony’s back. The feel of skin was nice. Not even sexual, just... nice.

Peter had no idea how long they sat there. It could have been ten minutes, it could have been three hours. Tony’s eyes had fluttered shut, and even if he wasn’t asleep, Tony needed any sort of rest he could get.

A part of Peter liked to think he helped Tony sleep better. FRIDAY had confirmed a slight increase in the amount of time in REM when he had asked once. They had a protocol in place for these moments. FRIDAY would send information to his phone through Karen, only speaking if it was urgent.

Peter felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. It wasn’t important. He ignored it.

A moment later, the elevator doors opened.

“Tony,” Sam Wilson called out as he walked in. “Nat wanted to know if you could upgrade her widow bites. Her and Bucky figured out some uses for them or something. I brought the notes she made since I was coming into the city.”

Peter froze.

Sam Wilson was a decent guy. Sure, Peter had his general dislike toward Team Cap. But Sam Wilson on his own was a decent guy. A good man, even. He liked to check in on Tony one-on-one. He probably hadn’t gotten the chance to while Tony was at the compound.

Sam probably knew it was a flimsy excuse, but Peter appreciated the effort. More than Tony ever would.

He knew Sam Wilson, Sam Wilson did not know him. Sam Wilson knew Spider-Man. 

He had never made a plan for meeting the Avengers as anything other than Spider-Man. Peter was sure that they were all aware Tony was dating someone, maybe had even asked a question or two about it. But as far as everyone knew, Peter was nothing more than a young civilian. 

He was a gold-digger, supposedly. A young little sugar baby who had managed to attract the attention of the most-wanted billionaire. A lucky thing he was sure that the Avengers didn’t expect to stay around very long. A rebound. 

Certainly no one who should be as wrapped around Tony as he was without anything in his ass. 

It took just a moment too long for Tony to open his eyes. Peter felt annoyance claw in his chest Tony had almost been asleep and Sam went and did...whatever this was going to be.

Tony’s hand squeezed his side, perhaps in warning. Peter settled back, hiding his face even further into Tony’s neck.

Tony turned around to look at Sam.

“Wilson,” he said. “You mentioned something about the widow bites?”

A moment passed.

Sam cleared his throat. “Uh, yeah. I expected you to be in the lab, but FRIDAY brought me up here. I didn’t mean to, uh, interrupt anything.”

Peter felt Tony shrug. “FRIDAY knows who you are, if you didn’t have access you wouldn’t have been able to come up.”

“Sorry Boss,” Friday said, breaking her silence. “You were resting.”

“Right,” Sam said. “Well, I’ll just get going.”

Tony shook his head. “It’s fine.” He squeezed Peter’s hip again. “We were just about to go down to the lab anyway.” 

Peter took his head from Tony’s neck and sat back. 

Tony just looked exhausted. Sam looked confused.

“The lab?” Sam asked, brow raised. He looked back and forth between Peter and Tony. “What for?”

“This and that,” Tony said, moving his hand in a weird wavy motion. 

“Uh-huh.”

Tony looked at Peter for a moment, gaze unexpectedly intense. There was a question there. Peter wasn’t entirely sure what it was.

But he trusted Tony. 

He nodded. 

Tony gave a small smile and pressed a soft kiss to his jaw. 

“Peter, I’d like you to meet Sam Wilson, otherwise known as The Falcon,” Tony said, a familiar tone of showmanship accenting his words.

Tony turned to Sam. “Wilson, this is Peter Parker. You may have seen him in the tabloids or on buzzfeed,” Tony’s grin widened. “As you can see, he’s much prettier in person.”

Peter felt the warmth rise to his cheeks. God dammit. He did not need to be blushing right now.

Sam’s eyes darted between the two of them again. Peter was more than positive that this was not what he was expecting today.

His gaze settled on Peter, eyes narrowed.

Oh.  _ Oh. _ This was how it was going to be. Peter was delighted. 

“I didn’t realize you spent time in the labs with Tony,” Sam said. “I thought you were more the club type.”

There had not been a single picture of them in a club.

Sam was being  _ protective _ . This was everything Peter had wanted for Tony and more. Something Peter didn’t know was tense relaxed deep within him.

But he wasn’t supposed to be grinning right now. Right.

He turned to Tony, who had a familiar glint of amusement in his eyes. Of course Tony found this hilarious. “I go wherever Mr. Stark wants me to go.”

Tony’s eyes darkened.

Sam cleared his throat again. “Ah, I, uh, see.”

Sam never knew Tony in his playboy days. None of the avengers did, at least not personally. Hell, Peter had been too young to even know what any of it had meant at the time

But Peter could see connections being made. Tony was having a mid-life crisis, supposedly, after all. 

But Sam only knew Tony as the hero who had saved the world and had the PTSD to show for it. Tony didn’t trust like this. Sam knew that Tony did not let people into his lab. Sam knew Tony didn’t like people touching him, not really. Sex was one thing, there was a disconnect there. But touching? Intimacy? Not really Tony’s thing.

What Sam didn’t know was that Peter also knew that. 

Tony leaned up to kiss him - quick but filthy, Peter’s lip catching between Tony’s teeth as Tony pulled away. 

Tony squeezed Peter’s hip, and Peter moved off of Tony to stand up. 

Sam looked him up and down, taking him in more fully. Jeans, t-shirt, spit-slick lips, and flushed cheeks.

“So,” Sam said. “MIT, huh?”

Peter looked down at his shirt. It was actually one of Tony’s old ones. Hopefully Sam didn’t think it was anything more than vintage.

“Uh, yeah, yes!” Peter said, brightening. He could be a nerd. That was fine. Tony Stark would find a nerd adorable. “Biological and chemical engineering.”

It was Tony who encouraged him to do both courses. His advisers had warned against it.

Sam nodded, slowly, as if considering something.

\---

Sam ended up not going down to the workshop, had muttered something about worrying about it later when he got his wings tuned up.

Tony sat down at his workstation and pulled Peter into his lap. “Sorry about that.”

Peter shook his head. “It’s not like you knew,” he said, leaning his head on Tony’s shoulder. “Besides, it’s too late if you were trying to keep me secret anyway.”

Tony pressed a kiss to his temple. “The last thing I want is to keep you secret, baby,” he said. “You’d know if I did.”

Peter hummed. “What did you want to work on down here anyway?” he asked. “I thought you were between projects right now.”

“I am.” Tony’s hand wrapped around his thigh. “But maybe I don’t want to work on a project.”

“Oh?” Peter leaned back to look Tony in the eye. His eyes were bright and there was a playful smile tugging at his lips. He was beautiful like this. “What did you have in mind then?”

Tony pressed forward and caught his lips in a kiss. “You,” he breathed out as he pulled away. “I have every intention of doing you.”

“Is that so, Mr. Stark?”

Tony’s hand moved to the button in his jeans. “It is very much so, Mr. Parker.”

\---

Sam sat down on the couch with a sigh, bringing the beer he’d grabbed from the fridge to his lips. “I met the boy toy.”

Clint looked up. “What?”

“Tony’s boy toy,” Sam said. “You know, the kid he’s been seeing. He’s mentioned him once or twice.”

“How did you meet him?” Steve asked, twirling a pencil in his hand. “I thought you were with your cousin this weekend?”

Sam shrugged. “Oh, I was,” he said. He took a swig from the bottle. “But I ran over to the tower to ask Tony about the widowbites, since Nat wants them upgraded, and the kid was there.”

He was sticking to his excuse. Tony was...not someone Sam agreed with entirely, but he couldn’t deny the haunted look the man wore. The least he could do was check in occasionally. Hell, if it weren’t for Tony, he would have been wingless.

“Is he as young as he looks?” Clint asked, only half-interested.

“Not sure, but he goes to MIT so he’s gotta be what? Around 20?” Sam said. “He’s smart, going off that. And from what I saw, he’s a lot closer to Tony than any of us thought.”

Natasha walked in. “Who’s close to Stark?”

Sam leaned his head over the back of the couch. “Peter.”

“The boyfriend?” Natasha asked.

Sam nodded.

“Stark doesn’t trust easily,” Natasha said, walking toward them. “What do you think?”

“I thought it was weird,” Sam said, looking between the different Avengers’ faces. “Like sure, I never knew Tony when he and Pepper were dating, but we all know that he’s a bit… jumpy.”

Tony kept his distance. Suits, sunglasses, always had his arms crossed.

“Sure,” Steve muttered. “That’s a word for it.”

“But he was practically asleep when I walked in,” Sam continued. “He obviously trusts Peter enough to watch his back.

Clint crossed his arms over his chest. “Huh,” he said. “That’s...interesting.”

“Was it at the tower?” Steve asked.

Sam nodded. “Yep.”

“Well, then he had FRIDAY watching his back,” Steve said. “That doesn’t really say anything about the kid. Hell, I’m sure that if the kid tried anything FRIDAY would stop him.“

Sam shrugged, not noticing Natasha’s furrowed brow.

“And,” he added. “Tony took Peter down to his lab with him.”

\---

The hardest part about finding Peter Parker was slipping away to Cambridge without Tony noticing anything amiss.

Natasha had a good idea about the type of person Peter Parker was. She’d pretended to be that person hundreds of times.

She needed to get a read on the kid. He was either a pretty face who happened to catch the eye of a famous billionaire, or a very, very good spy. It was concern that had her checking for the first, and professional interest checking for the second. Sure, she cared for Tony. But more than that, he occupied a strategic position, both politically and in the Avengers as a fighter and financier. 

Tony Stark going through a midlife crisis left him vulnerable to outside influence. She’d once been an outside influence. If Tony was vulnerable, they were all vulnerable.

Tony was usually careful about avoiding spies. It had taken over a year of deep cover to get into Stark Industries, and that was before he’d gone out of his way to prevent people from getting close. 

A gold-digger wouldn’t care about Tony’s lab. 

Whoever Peter Parker was, he was  _ very _ good. Enough to make her wary. And his cover was flawless. Dead parents, an aunt in Queens who made a habit of picking up extra shifts to the point she had an unpredictable schedule, a few extracurriculars that made sense for a high-achieving student. 

The setup to meet Tony was near flawless once Natasha had figured it out. Apply for a grant through the Maria Stark foundation, got some sort of internship at Stark because his application caught someone’s eye, and he went to MIT. If there were any two places a young, attractive person might happen to run into Tony Stark and catch his attention, it’d be Stark Tower or on MIT’s campus.

Peter Parker was playing the long game.

She’d disguised herself as a college student, resigned to waiting for the perfect moment. No one looked twice at the leggings and baggy t-shirt. 

She blew a bubble with the gum she was chewing on. It popped. It was a nice enough day, and students were meandering about. Peter was in chemistry right now, in the second to first row in the classroom closest to the door she was sitting across from. The course ended in seven minutes and twenty-six seconds, but the professor was known for letting students go a few minutes early. 

For the school’s reputation, you think MIT would have better internet security. Not that it mattered. She’d only hacked the school records to double check what Twitter and RateMyProfessor had to say.

The doors opened and students started to pour out. 

And there he was, talking to a blonde girl.

Natasha popped in what looked like a pair of AirPods to better hear their conversation.

“I’m just saying,” the girl said, showing Peter something on her phone. “Technology is always listening. My for you page has been completely taken over by girls telling me how to make a seeking arrangements profile and strippers and this is entirely your fault.”

Peter snorted.

“And you’re not even a good sugar baby,” the girl continued. “You’re terrible at it. You’re dating the richest man on the planet and you actually like him.”

Peter tapped the glasses he was wearing. “Don’t give him ideas. Besides, we’ve had this conversation like ten times by now.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Surely you’ve gotten over this by now.”

Natasha couldn’t tell from this angle, but the glasses looked familiar. Bulky and obnoxious in a way no one could pull off. She was willing to bet a pretty penny they housed an AI. Which was, interesting. Tony was almost unhealthily protective of his AIs. He barely let the Avengers interact with FRIDAY beyond the bare minimum necessary in order to just live in the Compound.

Peter had managed to do something very few people had. Tony trusted him.

The girl huffed. “I saw an ad for Dior tennis shoes and was confused because they were the same shoes I saw you wearing while literally jumping in muddy puddles six months ago.”

“I don’t have Dior tennis shoes…”

“Oh right,” the girl said, laughing. “You just have clothing mysteriously appear in your closet that just so happens to be fresh off the runway.”

Another shrug. “Tony’s making me go to Milan’s fashion week in the fall,” Peter said, sounding disgruntled. “Said it’d be good for me.”

“What even is your life?”

Peter shook his head. “You don’t know the half of it.”

That was only half the conversation she was expecting. Peter was done with class for the rest of the day. Natasha would have to stick around to get a better read. 

The girl eventually split ways from Peter with a, “See ya later.”

It was relatively easy to trail Peter while keeping people in between them as they walked away from MIT’s campus. They were standing in front of a luxury apartment building when Peter suddenly stopped walking and turned around.

“Agent Romanoff, I know you’re there,” he said, eyes narrowed behind tinted glasses. Definitely a Tony Stark special.

Natasha couldn’t hide the flash of surprise from showing on her face. The man standing in front of her was not the same who had been leisurely strolling without a care for the past twenty minutes.

Peter Parker, perhaps unknowingly, had settled into a fighting stance. A good one. He looked solid, and his hands were balled into fists at his side in a way that had Natasha thinking he was holding himself back rather than trying to act tough.

He was very, very good. 

Natasha had the idea now was not the time to play stupid. “What gave it away?”

“Would you believe me if I told you it was your perfume?” Peter asked.

“No.” She was wearing a floral one off of Sephora’s bestsellers page. Generic. Girly. Young.

Peter rolled his shoulders, setting her on edge. “Well,” he said, humming. “That’s rough.”

She raised a brow. “Oh?”

“Yep,” Peter said. “Now, is this the part where we go inside and have a tense conversation over tea that neither of us drink, or do you want me to blow your cover in the middle of the sidewalk?”

He thought he was in control of the situation. She wasn’t entirely sure he was wrong. If those glasses were an AI, that meant that Tony had access to them. He knew, or would know soon, that she had confronted Peter.

“Tea,” she said. “I’m Russian.”

Natasha wasn’t sure if she was surprised that Peter led her up to the penthouse of the building they were in front of instead of the expected dorm room or shitty college apartment. On one hand, not completely believable for a supposedly poor college freshman from Queens. On the other hand, Tony Stark.

It was different from the penthouse in the tower though. Homier. Had a lived in feel. Barely a clean, sharp edge in sight.

“Tony let me decorate,” Peter said, dropping his bag on a chair. 

“Did he now…”

Interesting. Natasha took a careful seat on the sofa, eyes never leaving Peter. 

She wasn’t surprised when he didn’t get tea before sitting down across from her in a cushy chair.

“Does he know I’m here?” she asked, sitting back with her arms crossed across her chest. “Or are we going to talk like adults?”

Peter shrugged. “I haven’t told him,” he said. “But I haven’t told FRIDAY or Karen to not tell him, either. He also probably has some sort of tracker on you.”

He had FRIDAY? Who was Karen?

“Any way we could have a private conversation?” Natasha asked after a moment.

She wouldn’t, if she were in Peter’s place. She had no idea if Peter was working for himself or independently. Either way, he needed to keep Tony’s trust. 

“No.” 

She nodded. “Thought so.”

“So,” Peter said. “What do you want?” 

God did having Stark on his side make this kid cocky. 

“I want to know what your intentions are with Tony,” she said, meeting his gaze head on. “He’s a friend. I care about him.”

“Right.” Peter’s tone was clipped. Wrong approach. 

She sighed and leaned forward a bit. “Iron Man and Tony Stark are inseparable,” she started. “As Avengers, our lifestyle is dangerous. There are risks for anyone close to any one of us.”

“And you think Tony doesn’t try to tell me this on at least a weekly basis?” 

Point.

“I want to make sure you’re involved with Tony for the right reasons,” she tried. “He’s difficult on his best days. You’re what, 20? Forgive me for being concerned.”

Peter just stared at her. He had puppy-dog eyes, brown and soulful. He was confident, but Natasha wasn’t sure she could ever call him intimidating. Even earlier on the sidewalk it had been more surprise than anything that got her.

But confidence was easy to fake.

He seemed to be debating something, his eyes wavering back and forth ever so slightly. So subtle even she wasn’t sure she would have noticed if she wasn’t looking for it. His lips were pulled down into a frown.

He was cute. She’d give Tony that much. 

A few moments passed.

“Fine,” Peter muttered, seemingly to himself, breaking the silence. He melted back into the chair, arms falling to his sides.

Natasha froze.

His brows scrunched together. “So, Mr. Stark told me to just tell you since you won’t get off our back otherwise.”

She blinked. “You call him Mr. Stark?”

“Old habit,” he said with a shrug. “But that doesn’t matter. What matters is you need to swear to me, us, that you’re not going to tell anyone. Not even the rest of the Avengers.”

A promise of secrecy never boded well.

But Tony was in on it. 

Peter Parker was possibly the best goddamn spy she’d ever met, and that was including herself.

“Fine,” she said.

He lifted his hands and a holoscreen popped up out of nowhere, because of course it did. On it was a picture of Peter’s face and what looked like schematics for a familiar suit.

“I’m Spiderman.”

Well, that explained everything and nothing at all.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to come pester me at my tumblr: @ashilrak
> 
> Also, I currently have a WIP called He Just Stares At The World if any of y'all want to check it out.


End file.
